Andrea Moschilla is the father of Salvatore Moschilla
Locations: Calabria and the United States Of America
Date: August 1903 to 1906
Under an expansive azure sky, during a summer’s day in August, twenty-nine-year-old Andrea Moschilla left his village in Siderno to begin his immigration journey to the United States of America. He travelled to Naples and boarded the ship S.S. Citta di Napoli, sailing from the Italian port on Wednesday, 12 August 1903. He arrived in America on 26 August 1903 with US$38 in his possession and a prearranged meeting with an Italian-American named Joseph Scozzafava. Andrea met Joseph in New York and together they travelled by train to the iron ore rich region of Port Henry, where Andrea’s brother, Domenico, was already working.
Born in 1870, Joseph Scozzafava was one of the first Italian immigrants to settle in the mining town fittingly named Mineville. Employed by the Witherbee Sherman Company, he worked briefly in the mines and later, in the early 1900’s, was given a new position as a foreign labour broker to recruit a much needed workforce during the iron ore boom. Earning between US$1.50 and US$2.50 per worker, Joseph’s responsibilities were very ethnic specific; he was tasked with recruiting only Italian immigrants, meeting them upon their arrival in New York, and personally escorting them to the mine site. His ability to communicate in Italian, as well as being able to speak, read and write in English, enabled him to act as liaison and translator between the non-English speaking migrants and company managers.
To accommodate the increasing number of migrant workers, the Witherbee Sherman Company constructed new boarding houses to the west of Mineville, establishing the new hamlet of Witherbee. These boarding houses were all built within walking distance of the mines and were segregated according to nationality and race. For example, there were distinct settlements for the Italians, Spanish, Irish, and the other nationalities. In the Italian sector, Joseph was recognised as the local 'Padrone’ and operated his own boarding house. Described as a long, two storey building, it accommodated up to 34 men. Sleeping quarters were on the top storey - this room was very basic, consisting only of rows of narrow cots. On the ground level, there was an apartment where Joseph lived, a grocery store, a dining room and a bar where liquor was served.
When Andrea Moschilla arrived at the Witherbee mine site, everything was already prepared for him. He had a designated place to live (with three meals a day included), he had an assigned job and was given a supply of work clothing and tools – all provided by the mining company. However, it needs to be noted, apart from a few documents showing his direct connection to Joseph Scozzafava, there is no other evidence specifically identifying the type of work Andrea did during his stay in Witherbee. Therefore, the most accurate (and highly likely) statement that can be made regarding his employment is that: He "probably" was a miner.
Between 1903 and 1904, the boarding house Andrea lived in had the postal address of:
Care of Joseph Scozzafava
36 Box
Witherbee, NY
During these two years, there were also other migrants from Siderno with the same contact details, indicating they all shared the same accommodation:
Domenico Moschilla (Andrea's brother) – Arrived in New York January 1903.
Donato Lacchi (Andrea's future brother-in-law) – Donato was born in the Calabrian town of Lacchi in either 1882 or 1883. His surname comes from his place of birth. Adopted by the Pedulla family, he lived in Siderno with his parents and sisters until the age of twenty. (His father passed away sometime before 1906). In 1903, Donato emigrated to America, arriving in Witherbee in mid-September. His cousin, from the Condercuri side of the family, was already working there.
Raffaele Trimboli (Andrea’s nephew - son of Andrea’s sister Rosa and brother-in-law Giuseppe) - Andrea paid for his nephew’s ticket to sail to America. Raffaele was 21 years old when he arrived at the Witherbee mine site in early May, 1904.
These men were all farmers. They had lived their lives outdoors in ‘campagna’ surrounded by wheat fields, fragrant citrus trees and olive groves - vibrant with colour, sunshine and cooling breezes. They laboured with shovels and hoes, digging into fertile soil on top of the earth's surface, not beneath it. They were not miners. The narrow shafts, tunnels and claustrophobic work spaces filled with dust and colourless shades of grey was an unfamiliar, foreign environment to them. Here, they encountered a timeless and gloomy underground world with nothing to guide their ten-hour shifts: no sun, no moon and no stars. No azure sky.
Andrea can be traced, living in America until 21 April 1905. By this time, he had relocated to Clarksburg, West Virginia, but would soon return home to Siderno to marry a local woman in 1906: an arranged marriage with one of Donato’s sisters – Cecilia Pedulla.
EXTRA INFORMATION
In August 1903, Andrea Moschilla traveled to New York aboard the Citta di Napoli.
A section of the 1903 passenger list for the S.S. Citta di Napoli with information connecting Andrea Moschilla to mine recruiter Joseph Scozzafava.
A section of a 1904 passenger list detailing the arrival of Raffaele Trimboli in New York and his intention to join his uncle, Andrea Moschilla, in Witherbee.
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